--- name: "Kent Smith" canonical: "https://film.one/person/kent-smith" fi1m_id: "kent-smith" imdb_id: "nm0808949" tmdb_id: 51764 wikidata_id: "Q974947" roles: ["Actor"] born: "19 March 1907" died: "23 April 1985" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-25T03:18:46.294859+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Kent Smith ## Identity Kent Smith - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kent-smith - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** kent-smith - **IMDb ID:** nm0808949 - **TMDB ID:** 51764 - **Wikidata ID:** Q974947 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q974947, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/51764 Actor. Born 19 March 1907 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 23 April 1985. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 19 March 1907, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 23 April 1985 - **Active:** 1942–1957 - **Also known as:** Kenneth Smith, Frank Kent Smith - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q974947, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/51764 ## Fi1m on Kent Smith > Kent Smith's earnest, straightforward manner gives troubled characters someone ordinary to stand beside. We value that contribution, though in *Cat People* his stiffness leaves Simone Simon doing too much of the work. When Kent Smith speaks as Oliver Reed in *Cat People* (1942), the dialogue does not always sound lived in. His earnest manner offers the film a useful ordinary presence, but we need to believe in the man as well as recognise the type. Smith can leave Simone Simon doing too much of the emotional work. We rate the film highly, with a reservation about its leading man: playing somebody conventional still requires enough feeling to make us care what happens to him. Nor is the difficulty entirely his. DeWitt Bodeen's script sometimes gives us too little sense of the people involved, and Tom Conway's Dr. Louis Judd can be stiff too. We were frightened by *Cat People*, and it was Simon's performance and Nicholas Musuraca's shadows that did it. The film needs the contrast supplied by Smith's straightforward manner, particularly when the people around him seem troubled. His performance helps establish that difference, without always making Oliver convincing in his own right. His early-1940s leading roles at RKO made use of that conventional presence, before the later move towards professional and authority figures. He returned as Oliver in *The Curse of the Cat People* (1944), produced, like the original, by Val Lewton; the sequel moved towards psychological drama. The doctor in Robert Siodmak's *The Spiral Staircase* (1946) and the pragmatic architect Peter Keating in King Vidor's *The Fountainhead* (1949) suggest how readily he could fit into an ensemble. These are parts in which respectability gives an actor something definite to work with. From the late 1950s, character parts and television took up more of his work. General Mark Webster in *Sayonara* (1957) and Dr. Robert Morton in *Peyton Place* (1964) make the progression easy to follow: the ordinary leading man had become someone other characters might consult or obey. There is room for that kind of actor without pretending every reserved performance contains hidden depths. Start with *Cat People*, but go for Simon and the shadows rather than expecting Smith to carry the evening. ## Biography Kent Smith (born Frank Kent Smith) was an American actor with a career in theatre, film and television spanning from 1929 to 1978. Born in New York City on 19 March 1907, he was educated at Harvard University and made his Broadway debut in 1932 in Men Must Fight. He appeared in numerous stage productions including Saint Joan, Antony and Cleopatra and Bus Stop. His film debut came in The Garden Murder Case (1936). He gained notice for his role as Oliver Reed in Cat People (1942) and reprised it in The Curse of the Cat People (1944). Other film credits include The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Fountainhead (1949) and Sayonara (1957), in which he played Gen. Webster. Smith later worked extensively in television, with appearances in series such as Peyton Place, The Invaders and Wonder Woman. He was married to actresses Betty Gillette (1937–1954) and Edith Atwater (from 1962). He died on 23 April 1985 in Woodland Hills, California. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Cat People* (1942), Fi1m 86, as Oliver Reed — [page](https://film.one/film/cat-people.md) ## Complete filmography (112) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Taking Tiger Mountain* (1982), Producer - *Die Sister, Die!* (1978), as Dr. Thorne - *Once an Eagle* (1976), series, as Gen. Jacklyn - *Wonder Woman* (1975), series, as Chief Justice Brown - *The Disappearance of Flight 412* (1974), as Gen. Enright - *The Cat Creature* (1973), as Frank Lucas - *The Affair* (1973), as Mr. Patterson - *Lost Horizon* (1973), as Bill Fergunson - *The Female Instinct* (1972), as Warren Packer - *Pete 'n' Tillie* (1972), as Father Keating - *The Judge and Jake Wyler* (1972), as Robert Dodd - *The Crooked Hearts* (1972), as James Simpson - *Delphi Bureau* (1972), series, as Prescott - *Another Part of the Forest* (1972), as Simon Isham - *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, Actor - *Probe* (1972), as Dr. Edward Laurent - *The Night Stalker* (1972), as District Attorney Tom Paine - *The Last Child* (1971), as Gus Iverson - *Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law* (1971), series, as Keats - *Night Gallery* (1970), series, as Doctor, Bennett - *How Awful About Allan* (1970), as Raymond - *The Games* (1970), as Kaverley - *Death of a Gunfighter* (1969), as Andrew Oxley - *Kona Coast* (1968), as Akamai Barnes - *Assignment to Kill* (1968), as Mr. Eversley - *The Money Jungle* (1967), as Paul Kimmel - *Games* (1967), as Harry Gordon - *A Covenant with Death* (1967), as Oliver Parmalee - *The Invaders* (1967), series, as Stan Arthur, Edgar Scoville - *Mission: Impossible* (1966), series, as Senator William Townsend — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md) - *Felony Squad* (1966), series, Actor - *The Trouble with Angels* (1966), as Uncle George Clancy - *The F.B.I.* (1965), series, as US Attorney Leonard Vanatter, Wendell Price, Commodore Coldwell, Elwood Hayes - *The Wild Wild West* (1965), series, as Governor Winston E. Brubaker - *The Young Lovers* (1964), as Dr. Shoemaker - *Profiles in Courage* (1964), series, as Charles Evans Hughes - *Youngblood Hawke* (1964), as Paul Winter Sr. - *Daniel Boone* (1964), series, as General Hugh Scott - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Mr. Macy - *A Distant Trumpet* (1964), as Secretary of War - *The Great Adventure* (1963), series, as Gen. Nelson Miles, William Carroll, Grymes - *The Outer Limits* (1963), series, as Dr. Block, Aabel - *Arrest and Trial* (1963), series, Actor - *The Balcony* (1963), as General - *Going My Way* (1962), series, Actor - *The Beverly Hillbillies* (1962), series, as Clifton Cavanaugh - *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Mr. Benner, Jerry O'Hara, Dr. Sam Adamson - *Moon Pilot* (1962), as Secretary of the Air Force - *Susan Slade* (1961), as Dr. Fain - *Cain's Hundred* (1961), series, as Charles Dennis - *The Defenders* (1961), series, as Dwight Harkavy - *The Roaring 20's* (1960), series, Actor - *The Barbara Stanwyck Show* (1960), series, as Dexter Willis - *Checkmate* (1960), series, as Ainslee - *The Aquanauts* (1960), series, as George - *Strangers When We Meet* (1960), as Stanley Baxter - *Adventures in Paradise* (1959), series, as Michael Legrange, Crandall - *This Earth Is Mine* (1959), as Francis Fairon - *Rawhide* (1959), series, Actor - *The Mugger* (1958), as Dr. Pete Graham - *Party Girl* (1958), as Jeffrey Stewart - *77 Sunset Strip* (1958), series, as Robert Vincent - *Lawman* (1958), series, as Kent Smith - *Naked City* (1958), series, as George Blake - *Bronco* (1958), series, Actor - *The Badlanders* (1958), as Cyril Lounsberry - *Imitation General* (1958), as Brig. Gen. Charles Lane - *Sayonara* (1957), as Gen. Webster - *Suspicion* (1957), series, as Dr. Jonathan Michel, the Psychiatrist - *Perry Mason* (1957), series, as Dr. Arthur Younger, Dr. Curtis Metcalfe - *M Squad* (1957), series, as Howard Meston - *Wagon Train* (1957), series, as Prof. Paul Owens - *Have Gun, Will Travel* (1957), series, as Avery Coombs - *Comanche* (1956), as Quanah Parker - *Matinee Theater* (1955), series, Actor - *Crossroads* (1955), series, Actor - *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Gilbert Hughes - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Bealton, Dakota - *The Millionaire* (1955), series, as Bill Franklin - *King Richard II* (1954), as Bolingbroke - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Dr. Jonathan Michael - *Paula* (1952), as John Rogers - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Bolingbroke - *Little Women: Jo's Story* (1950), as Professor Fritz Bhaer - *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as David Barlow, Steve Ferris, Steven, at 48 - *This Side of the Law* (1950), as David Cummins - *The Damned Don't Cry* (1950), as Martin Blackford - *Robert Montgomery Presents* (1950), series, as Prince Albert - *My Foolish Heart* (1950), as Lewis H. Wengler - *The Fountainhead* (1949), as Peter Keating - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Friedrich Bhaer - *The Philco Television Playhouse* (1948), series, as John Wilkes Booth - *Design for Death* (1948), as Narrator - *The Voice of the Turtle* (1947), as Kenneth Bartlett - *Magic Town* (1947), as Hoopendecker - *Nora Prentiss* (1947), as Dr. Richard Talbot - *Okay for Sound* (1946), Actor - *The Spiral Staircase* (1946), as Dr. Parry - *Your Next Job* (1945), as Instructor Lieutenant - *Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bomb Loading Procedures* (1945), as Briefing Colonel - *Youth Runs Wild* (1944), as Danny Coates - *Resisting Enemy Interrogation* (1944), as Capt. Reining - American Working for the Nazis - *The Curse of the Cat People* (1944), as Oliver 'Ollie' Reed - *Three Russian Girls* (1943), as John Hill - *Dental Health* (1943), as Narrator - *This Land Is Mine* (1943), as Paul Martin - *Three Cadets* (1943), as Captain A. Edwards - *Forever and a Day* (1943), as Gates Trimble Pomfret - *Hitler's Children* (1943), as Professor Nichols - *Cat People* (1942), as Oliver Reed — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/cat-people.md) - *Back Door to Heaven* (1939), as Attorney (uncredited) - *The Garden Murder Case* (1936), as Woode Swift --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kent-smith